How do you handle those weeks where blood sugar is different every day?

[mazea]

I was wondering how people manage those weeks where there blood sugar is different every day. I've had a bad week this week where my blood sugars have been like a rollercoaster. My novorapid amount was 5 1/2 for 3 units for 6 months. Then last week I was taking 10 units last week for 3 units of carbs for breakfast, then the day before yesterday it was 8, then yesterday 9, then today 8. I ended going for a walk and thought I would check and my blood sugar and it was Low, which means below 1.3. I'm trying my best!:)

[Real4]

Then last week I was taking 10 units last week for 3 units of carbs for breakfast

Excuse me, but what is a "unit of carb"? Never heard of such a thing!

[mazea]

According to my diabetes educator a unit of carb is 15g carbohydrates. I use carbohydrate counting to simplify my meal recording. I think different people sometimes use "units" as it is sometimes easier to work out how much insulin to take per unit of carb than per 16 or 19g carb.

[Subby]

I was wondering how people manage those weeks where there blood sugar is different every day. I've had a bad week this week where my blood sugars have been like a rollercoaster. My novorapid amount was 5 1/2 for 3 units for 6 months. Then last week I was taking 10 units last week for 3 units of carbs for breakfast, then the day before yesterday it was 8, then yesterday 9, then today 8. I ended going for a walk and thought I would check and my blood sugar and it was Low, which means below 1.3. I'm trying my best!:)

Very hard when your body's reaction to insulin and food seem to move around so dramatically :( All I can suggest is test, test, test, observe, observe, try and find out what might be causing these movements. Basal testing is very useful, as for your I:C ratio moving so dramatically - a good thing to do would be to sit down and write a big list about what might have changed in your life the last week or so! Anything and everything - jobs, feeling sick, lack of sleep, food, people, anything.

Problems around breakfast could suggest problem overnight. Have you checked your BG over night recently?

Otherwise, keep your head up, you're trying your best and obviously in the good fight :)

[mazea]

My insulin: carb ratio has been changing a lot in the last week. I think monitoring, monitoring and monitoring sounds like a good plan to me.: )

I have trouble getting a night time reading last night but will try to when my blood sugar levels stablise. I did get one a few days ago and my blood sugar at night was about 6.5. In the morning my blood sugar level was 6.7.

Subby, you always have brilliant ideas. Thanks for the input.

I'm a pretty good fighter with the diabetes, but probably will get some boxing gloves to help. Do you think that will help?

[LiveNormal]

I hear you. I don't know if you are a pumper or not. In case you are, then what it takes might be just skipping some meals and try to get your basal rate as close to what you body really needs as possible. Then try to to test the bolus with small amount of carbs. By that, I mean no more than 3 units of carbs a meal or smaller. I always believe in small number, small error. Until you are confident about your basal and carb ratio, then you can try with more carbs.

I know it is hard and I am also in a state like you right now. Being a female, I will need to worry 2 times about this change in insulin needs in a month previously. However as I am doing assisted reproduction right now, my body is full of hormone so I guess all these changes are inevitable!

Good luck.

[SuzySushi]

Blood sugar readings ARE different each day because they're not simply based on carb intake. There's a complex relationship that also takes in exercise, hormonal changes, stress, and possibly the phases of the moon!!!

Just joking about the latter -- but my daughter has had diabetes for 3 years and my husband for over 20 before her, and we still can't come up with a "one size fits all senarios" carb:insulin ratio.

If you don't have one already, ask your doctor or CDE for a "sliding scale" to adjust your insulin intake based on your blood sugar readings.

Best wishes,
Suzy

[viranth]

My BG handles differently almost every day.

Depends if I'm sick, healthy and working out, healthy and working out very much, healthy and working much, sick and working much and so on.

Over the last few days my BG has been much higher than normal, and I didn't really get it, since a few days before that I barely took any insulin and had very good control. But now it was revealed to me, the flu! Sore throat and it all.

As if a sore throat isn't bad enough, now I react totally different to everything I eat.